What does salmon taste like?

Adding fish to your diet can provide you with a host of health benefits. One of the tastiest and most nutritious fish that exist is salmon.

Salmon is a beautiful fish that is eaten in many different cuisines as it is extremely versatile and can be eaten in many different ways; Because it is so versatile, it is one of the most consumed pieces of fish.

If you’ve never eaten salmon, you may be curious about its different qualities, such as its uses, its texture, and most importantly, its taste.

So what does salmon taste like?

Salmon is a mild-flavored fish with a rich, slightly oily taste. Baked, grilled, or poached salmon often has a buttery, citrusy flavor, along with any flavors that have been added to the dish. Smoked salmon has a slightly fishy, smoky flavor, and canned salmon is often bland or oily.

Read on to find out more about the taste of salmon in all its forms, as well as its texture, its smell, and the many different ways the fish is prepared.

What is salmon?

Salmon is a beautiful bright pink-orange fish that is popular all over the world.

Salmon is an anadromous fish , which means that it can be found in both salt and fresh water.

This means that it is found predominantly both in the Pacific Ocean and in different tributaries (a river or stream that flows into a lake) of the North Atlantic.

You can get both farmed and fresh salmon, and the origin of the fish can determine its quality. Wild salmon is usually of higher quality than farmed salmon.

It is a rich and meaty piece and is much less flaky than other pieces of fish such as sea bass or halibut.

Salmon is a popular fish used in many different cuisines as it is extremely versatile and works with a plethora of flavors.

You can access salmon practically anywhere in the world.

In what ways can salmon be eaten?

Because salmon is such an adaptable fish, it can be eaten in many different ways.

If you can get your hands on high-quality salmon, it can be eaten raw in sushi rolls, sashimi, or poke.

Smoked salmon is a popular version of fish that is often served with breakfast biscuits. 

Salmon can be baked or roasted in the oven, poached, or cooked in a skillet.

The salmon can be fried and made into fish sticks for the kids or even fish tacos.

Salmon tastes delicious when cooked on the grill. It can be cooked directly on the grill or, more popularly, on a cedar plank for added flavor. 

Finally, salmon can come canned and mixed with mayonnaise and other seasonings to resemble a tuna salad, or it can be made into salmon cakes or burgers.

What does salmon smell like?

The smell of salmon is often determined by the way it has been cooked and prepared. Therefore, we have separated this next section into the ways in which salmon can be cooked.

Raw salmon

Raw salmon that is going to be cooked should not have an overpowering fishy smell.  However, it should smell slightly salty and fishy, like the smell of the sea breeze. 

Raw salmon that will be eaten raw, such as in sushi or sashimi, should smell light, salty, and slightly oily, but not fishy.

This is because raw salmon that is going to be cooked should not be eaten raw and is not of sufficient quality, while salmon for sushi is. That’s why it’s important to choose the right type of salmon.

However, if either type of raw salmon gives off an overpowering fishy smell (as if it takes your breath away), that’s a sign it’s inedible and should be thrown away.

Baked and Poached Salmon

We have put the baked and poached salmon together because they smell quite similar.

Both the baked and poached salmon should smell a bit rich, but mostly like the flavors you cooked it with.

So, for example, if you’ve marinated salmon with a honey mustard glaze and baked it, it should come out smelling a bit sweet and sour.

If you poach the salmon in curry and coconut milk, it should smell slightly sweet and spicy.

Baked and poached salmon should not smell fishy after it has been cooked; this is a sign that it has been damaged.

Grilled salmon

Grilled salmon should smell relatively similar to baked and poached salmon; it should smell of the herbs, spices, and sauces used to flavor it.

However, since it is cooked over a flame, it should also have a smoky smell.

If you used cedar plank on your grill, it should smell smoky and a little earthy.

Again, if your grilled salmon smells fishy, don’t eat it, as the fishy smell after cooking is a sign that it’s gone bad.

fried salmon

Fried salmon will most likely smell the most compared to the other salmon varieties on the list. This is due to the way it is cooked and prepared.

Fried salmon is coated in flour and may or may not have some sort of crunchy element, such as breadcrumbs, on the outside.

What coats the salmon can determine the smell it will have once fried. If it’s panko breadcrumbs, you can expect it to have a bit of a yeasty smell.

However, fried salmon will always smell a little oily due to the cooking process.

Smoked salmon

Of all the varieties of salmon, smoked salmon tends to smell the most fishy.

It’s not as fresh as raw salmon, nor as cooked as baked or grilled salmon, so the smell falls somewhere in between.

It will taste smoky with a slight fishy and salty smell. As long as the fishy smell is not excessive, it is safe to eat.

canned salmon

Canned salmon should have a relatively mild odor, as flaked salmon is often soaked in water or oil.

This is cooked salmon, so it should smell a bit salty and very slightly fishy. If it smells too fishy or musty, throw it out.

How is the texture of the salmon?

Like the smell, the texture of salmon is determined by the way it has been cooked and prepared. Therefore, we have also separated this next section into ways to cook salmon.

Raw salmon

Raw salmon is going to have a smooth, fatty, and rich texture . It has a bit of a bounce when touched and can be cut easily.

If raw salmon has a stringy or sticky texture, it’s gone bad.

Baked and grilled salmon

We’ve put the baked and grilled salmon together because they have very similar textures to each other.

Both baked and broiled salmon have a beautiful, flaky texture.  It is extremely soft and the meat of the salmon falls apart in large flaky chunks.

When cooked well, baked and grilled salmon has a smooth, buttery texture.

poached salmon

Poached salmon will have a similar consistency to baked and grilled salmon, but will be much softer as it sits and cooks in the liquid.

Poached salmon does not get as flaky as baked or grilled salmon, as it stays more condensed when poached.

However, it is still extremely soft due to the liquid and takes on a buttery consistency.

fried salmon

Fried salmon will have the most unique consistency of all salmon types.

Fried salmon will be crispy on the outside, but soft on the inside.  Depending on how the fish is fried and what it is coated with, the level of crunch will change.

Some fried salmon are extremely crispy, while others are only slightly crispy. What always stays the same is the smooth and creamy consistency of the salmon within the outer shell.

Smoked salmon

Smoked salmon has a similar consistency to raw salmon, but is often cut and served much thinner, so the texture is slightly different.

While raw salmon is extremely soft but a bit chunky, smoked salmon has a bit more grain as it is lightly cooked. 

It’s usually a little harder to separate, but it’s still a soft, pliable consistency. It falls somewhere in between raw and cooked salmon.

canned salmon

Canned salmon has one of the most unique consistencies of all types of this fish.

Because it is usually soaked in a liquid, canned salmon is extremely soft and malleable. It can be molded very easily and is the softest of the varieties.

Does salmon taste fishy?

If you’re eating good salmon, it shouldn’t taste fishy.

In fact, if the salmon tastes fishy it is a sign that you should stop eating it immediately. Although salmon may smell a little fishy before cooking, the fishy smell should go away as soon as the fish is cooked.

This is one of the main ways to tell if salmon has gone bad. However, there are some other tricks to decide whether or not your salmon is safe to eat.

Smell

Just like it shouldn’t taste fishy after cooking, it shouldn’t smell fishy after cooking either. The cooking process should remove that fishy smell . It should also not smell musty or sulfurous after cooking.

If your salmon has any of these strange odors, throw the fish away.

Color

Salmon should be pinkish-orange in color both before and after cooking.

If it looks dull, gray or slightly green before or after cooking, it has gone bad and should not be eaten.

Texture

Your salmon should have the right texture.

This depends on how you plan to prepare it and how it will be consumed. For example, smoked salmon and poached salmon do not need the same texture.

If the salmon is tough, slimy, sticky, or stringy, it has gone bad and is unsafe to eat.

So what does salmon taste like?

Now that we know what salmon shouldn’t taste like (smell, look like, or feel like), let’s see what salmon should taste like.

Since there are so many varieties of salmon, we have also divided this section into ways to cook the fish.

Crude

Raw salmon should taste light, fresh, and almost citrusy.  It is high in fat and will also taste quite buttery and melt in your mouth.

Raw salmon pairs well with citrus and savory sauces like soy sauce or ponzu sauce.

Baked salmon

Baked salmon will taste very similar to that which has been seasoned or marinated. However, the fish base will still taste the same. It will taste light, buttery, and creamy.

Whatever you marinate it should complement these flavors. Honey mustard, dill and other herbs, chipotle, dijon, citrus, and garlic all work well when cooking a piece of salmon. 

poached salmon

Like baked salmon, poached salmon will have a buttery, creamy base flavor, but it will also taste like whatever you poached.

Poaching requires a liquid that must be heavily seasoned to flavor the fish as it cooks.

This could mean using coconut milk and herbs like coriander and peppers to give it a nice Thai flavor. Or you can use broth or water and season the liquid with herbs like dill, thyme, parsley, and garlic.

The poached salmon will taste the same as the seasoning, so choose wisely and be sure to include enough to infuse the salmon with flavor.

Grilled salmon

Grilled salmon has a unique flavor as it is prepared over an open flame or charcoal.

Because of this cooking method, grilled salmon still tastes buttery, but it also tastes rich and smoky due to the flame or charcoal. 

Grilled salmon can also be done with a cedar plank, which adds more flavor to the salmon. This gives a rich woody and smoky flavor to the salmon.

When grilling salmon, I would stick to keeping ingredients to a minimum. Oil or butter, salt, pepper, a little garlic, and lemon go a long way to flavor grilled salmon.

fried salmon

Fried salmon isn’t usually eaten plain, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t taste good.

Fried salmon tends to taste salty and crunchy on the outside, but soft and buttery on the inside. It will also taste a bit of the oil it was cooked in.

Fried salmon is usually served in the form of fish fingers and accompanied by tartar and cocktail sauce, or in tacos with a cabbage and lime cream.

Smoked salmon

Smoked salmon has a very particular cooking process that gives rise to a very particular flavor.

The process makes smoked salmon slightly salty and smoked with a slight (very light) fishy flavor. Of all the salmon options, this is the only one that has a slight fishy flavor.

Smoked salmon is often served with breakfast bagels, so it pairs well with cream cheese and other bagel seasonings, such as capers, tomato, and red onion.

canned salmon

Canned salmon has a very mild flavor and is quite bland even when cooked.

If it is soaked in water it will be extremely soft, but if it is soaked in oil it will taste a bit oily. 

For this reason, canned salmon works best when heavily seasoned in a tuna salad-like dish or in salmon cakes or burgers.